Author: claimsbot

1. A method for performing motion compensation on video data comprising the steps of:
segmenting a first portion of video data into a first plurality of macroblocks, each macroblock comprising a plurality of pixels;
segmenting a second portion of video data into a second plurality of macroblocks, each macroblock comprising a like plurality of pixels;
comparing one of said plurality of macroblocks of said first portion of video data to each of said plurality of macroblocks of said second portion of video data; and
determining a macroblock of said second portion of video data which most closely matches said macroblock of interest in said first portion of video data.
2. The method of claim 1 which further comprises the step of calculating a motion vector, for each one of said first plurality of macroblocks, each of said motion vectors representing a change in position of said associated macroblock relative to said determined matching macroblock.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the motion vector is calculated by:
calculating a first difference between the horizontal coordinate of a chosen pixel of said macroblock of interest in said first portion of video data and the horizontal coordinate of a corresponding pixel of said matching macroblock in said second portion of video data; and
calculating a second difference between the vertical coordinate of a chosen pixel of said macroblock of interest in said first portion of video data and the vertical coordinate of a corresponding pixel of said matching macroblock in said second portion of video data.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the motion vector is further calculated by:
generating a plurality of motion compensated pixels of said matching macroblock by adding a vector comprising said first difference as its horizontal value and said second difference as its vertical value, to each pixel coordinate in said matching macroblock.
5. The method of claim 4 which further comprises filtering said pixels of said macroblock of interest with corresponding plurality of motion compensated pixels of said matching macroblock.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said filtering is performed only if said macroblock of interest has a horizontal and vertical location different than a horizontal and vertical location of said matching macroblock.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein said filtering is performed if a cumulative difference of pixel values which comprise said macroblock of interest is different than a cumulative difference of pixel values which comprise said matching macroblock.
8. An integrated circuit performing motion compensation on video data comprising:
means for storing a plurality of frames of video data;
means for partitioning each of said plurality of frames of video data into equivalent sized macroblocks;
means for calculating a cumulative difference between pixel values of a first macroblock from a first frame and corresponding pixel values of a second macroblock from a second frame;
means for storing said cumulative difference; and
means for identifying a closely matching macroblock in said second frame of video data by determining the smallest value of said cumulative difference.
9. The integrated circuit of claim 8 further comprising:
means for calculating a position difference representing the difference between the position of any pixel of said closely matching macroblock and the position of a corresponding pixel of said first macroblock.
10. The integrated circuit of claim 9 further comprising:
means for adding said position difference to each pixel in said closely matching macroblock.
11. The integrated circuit of claim 10 wherein said means for adding generates a plurality of motion compensated pixels; and
further comprising filter means for filtering said pixels of said first macroblock with corresponding plurality of motion compensated pixels of said closely matching macroblock.
12. The integrated circuit of claim 9 wherein the means for calculating a position difference:
(a) calculates a first difference between a horizontal coordinate of a chosen pixel of said first macroblock and the horizontal coordinate of a corresponding pixel of said closely matching macroblock; and
(b) calculates a second difference between the vertical coordinate of a chosen pixel of said first macroblock and the vertical coordinate of a corresponding pixel of said closely matching macroblock.
13. Computer apparatus for performing motion compensation on video data comprising:
a segmenter segmenting a first portion of video data into a first plurality of macroblocks, each macroblock comprising a plurality of pixels;
the segmenter segmenting a second portion of video data into a second plurality of macroblocks, each macroblock comprising a like plurality of pixels; and
a processor unit responsive to the segmenter for comparing one of said plurality of macroblocks of said first portion of video data to each of said plurality of macroblocks of said second portion of video data; and
determining a macroblock of said second portion of video data which most closely matches said macroblock of interest in said first portion of video data.
14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein the processor unit further calculates a motion vector, for each one of said first plurality of macroblocks, each of said motion vectors representing a change in position of said associated macroblock relative to said determined matching macroblock.
15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein the motion vector is calculated by:
calculating a first difference between the horizontal coordinate of a chosen pixel of said macroblock of interest in said first portion of video data and the horizontal coordinate of a corresponding pixel of said matching macroblock in said second portion of video data; and
calculating a second difference between the vertical coordinate of a chosen pixel of said macroblock of interest in said first portion of video data and the vertical coordinate of a corresponding pixel of said matching macroblock in said second portion of video data.
16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein the motion vector is further calculated by:
generating a plurality of motion compensated pixels of said matching macroblock by adding a vector comprising said first difference as its horizontal value and said second difference as its vertical value, to each pixel coordinate in said matching macroblock.
17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 16 wherein the processor unit further filters said pixels of said macroblock of interest with corresponding plurality of motion compensated pixels of said matching macroblock.
18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17 wherein said filtering is performed only if said macroblock of interest has a horizontal and vertical location different than a horizontal and vertical location of said matching macroblock.
19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17 wherein said filtering is performed if a cumulative difference of pixel values which comprise said macroblock of interest is different than a cumulative difference of pixel values which comprise said matching macroblock.
20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein the processor unit is part of a video compression decompression unit.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. An inspection apparatus for inspecting a plurality of playing cards, comprising;
a code readout device configured to produce readout data by reading an identification code provided on a playing card, the identification code representing that the playing card is a member of a prescribed group; and
a determination device for determining, based on the readout data, that an abnormal playing card that is not a member of the prescribed group is included in the plurality of playing cards.
2. The inspection apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the identification code is provided on the playing card under a condition invisible to the naked eye under normal usage conditions.
3. The inspection apparatus of claim 2, further comprising;
a light source fir irradiation prescribed light on the playing card, and wherein
the identification code becomes readable by the readout device upon receiving the prescribed light.
4. The inspection apparatus of claim 1, further comprising;
a reporting device for reporting the result of the determination by the determination device.
5. The inspection apparatus of claim 4, further comprising;
a suit display readout device for reading out a suit indication of the playing card, and wherein
the reporting device is a monitor for displaying the result of the determination and reporting the suit of an abnormal playing card by displaying suits read out by the suit display readout device.
6. The inspection apparatus of claim 1, wherein
in the event that the code readout device cannot read out the identification code of any of said plurality of playing cards, the determination device determines that the abnormal playing card that does not constitute the prescribed group is included in the plurality of playing cards.
7. The inspection apparatus of claim 1, further comprising;
a normal identification code memory device for storing the normal identification code corresponding to the prescribed group, and wherein
the determination device compares the identification code read out by the code readout device and the normal identification code stored in the normal identification code memory device, and in the event that the identification and the normal identification code do not match, determines that an abnormal playing card that does not constitute the prescribed group is included in the plurality of playing cards.
8. The inspection apparatus of claim 7, wherein
the memory device stores the identification code read out by the code readout device as the normal identification code.
9. The inspection apparatus of claim 8, wherein
the identification code stored as the normal identification code is the most common identification code readout from the plurality of playing cards.
10. The inspection apparatus of claim 8, wherein
the identification code stored as the normal identification code is an identification code first readout from the plurality of playing cards.
11. The inspection apparatus of claim 8, wherein
the identification code stored as the normal identification is an identification code readout from a sample playing card different from the plurality of playing cards.
12. The inspection apparatus of claim 7, further comprising;
an input device for an operator to input the identification code, and wherein
an identification code to be stored as the normal identification code is the identification code input from the input device.
13. The inspection apparatus of claim 7, wherein
the prescribed group is constituted by a plurality of decks, and the plurality of decks respectively have different normal identification codes; and
the determination device determines that an abnormal card that does not constitute the prescribed group is contained in the plurality of playing cards when an identification code readout by the code readout device does not match any of the codes.
14. The inspection apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the determination device determines that an abnormal card that does not constitute the prescribed group is contained in the plurality of playing cards by comparing each of the identification codes respectively read out from the plurality of playing cards with each other.
15. The inspection apparatus of claim 1, further comprising;
an abnormal playing card pick out device for picking out the abnormal playing card that does not constitute the above prescribed group.
16. The inspection apparatus of claim 15, wherein
the abnormal playing card pick out device picks out the abnormal playing card by arranging the abnormal playing card for which readout by the readout device is finished at a different place to the other playing cards.
17. The inspection apparatus of claim 15 further comprising;
a carrying device for sequentially sending the plurality of playing cards to the code readout device and the abnormal playing card pick out device picks out the abnormal playing card by stopping the motion of the carrying device when an abnormal playing card is determined to be included by the determination device.
18. The inspection apparatus of claim 1 further comprising;
a design readout device for reading out designs indicated on the plurality of playing cards, and wherein
the determination device further determines, based on the design read out by the design readout device, whether or not an abnormal playing card that does not constitute the prescribed group is included in the plurality of playing cards.
19. The inspection apparatus of claim 18, further comprising;
a suit display readout device for reading out the suit of the playing card displayed on the side obverse to the side on which the design is displayed, and wherein
the code readout device, said design readout device and the suit indication readout device are a common readout device;
and further comprising
a mirror reflecting the design or said suit toward the common readout device.
20. The inspection apparatus of claim 19, further comprising;
a stacker for stacking the plurality of playing cards; and
at least one pair of rollers, and a carrying device for carrying by the pair of rollers the playing cards stacked in the stacker, in order, to a position opposite to the single readout device, and wherein
the mirror reflects the design or suit on the free edge of a playing card held at a single side by the pair of rollers toward the single readout device.
21. A playing card comprising;
an identification code representing a group to which the playing card belongs, the code being invisible to the naked eye under normal condition and being identifiable by a prescribed identification device.
22. The playing card of claim 21, further comprising;
at least two of said identification codes, these two identification codes having point symmetry about the center of the playing card.
23. The playing card of claim 21, wherein
the identification code is printed with paint that becomes visible when irradiated by prescribed light.
24. The playing card of claim 23, wherein
the identification code is a bar code.
25. The playing card of claim 23, wherein
the identification code is printed at a position not overlapping a suit indication of the playing card.
26. The playing card of claim 21, wherein
the identification code includes group information inherent to the group and information of manufacturing date of the group.
27. The playing card of claim 21, wherein
the identification code includes casino information inherent to a casino in which the playing card is used.
28. An inspection method for inspecting a plurality of playing cards comprising;
reading an identification code provided on a playing card, the code being provided on each playing card belonging to a prescribed group to represent the group; and
determining that an abnormal card that is not a member of the prescribed group is included in the plurality of playing cards based on the result of the reading.

1. An internal combustion engine, comprising:
an engine block having at least one cylinder bore;
a cylinder head having a flame deck surface disposed at one end of the cylinder bore;
a piston connected to a rotatable crankshaft and configured to reciprocate within the cylinder bore, the piston having a piston crown portion facing the flame deck surface such that a combustion chamber is defined within the cylinder bore and between the piston crown and the flame deck surface;
a fuel injector having a nozzle tip disposed in fluid communication with the combustion chamber, the nozzle tip having at least one nozzle opening configured to inject a fuel jet into the combustion chamber and along a fuel jet centerline;
at least one duct defined in the combustion chamber between the piston crown and the flame deck surface, the at least one duct having a generally rectangular cross section and extending in a radial direction relative to the cylinder bore substantially along a segment of the fuel jet centerline.
2. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one duct is at least partially defined by a pair of fins having an elongate shape that includes sidewalls extending substantially parallel to a centerline of the cylinder bore, and wherein the at least one duct is at least partially defined between two opposing sidewalls disposed to at least partially enclose the segment of the fuel jet centerline.
3. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein at least one fin of the pair of fins is connected to the piston crown.
4. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein at least one fin of the pair of fins is connected to at least one of the flame deck surface of the cylinder head, an intake valve, and an exhaust valve.
5. The internal combustion engine of claim 2, wherein two fins of the pair of fins are connected to one another to form a U-shaped insert that is connected to the piston crown.
6. The internal combustion engine of claim 5, wherein the piston crown portion further includes a piston bowl having a generally concave shape and wherein the at least one duct has an inlet and an outlet that are radially disposed within the piston bowl.
7. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one duct is partially formed as a groove in the piston crown portion and at least partially formed between two walls extending parallel to one another around a portion of the fuel jet.
8. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, further comprising at least one recirculation inhibiting surface defined on a fin disposed between the piston crown and the flame deck surface, the fin having an elongate shape such that the at least one recirculation inhibiting surface is substantially parallel to a centerline of the cylinder bore and disposed between the at least one duct and an additional duct.
9. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein a cross sectional area of an inlet of the at least one duct is between 3 and 10 times a cross sectional area of the fuel jet.
10. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein a length of the at least one duct along the fuel jet centerline is between 1 and 8 times a minimum hydraulic diameter of an inlet cross section of the at least one duct.
11. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein an inlet of the at least one duct is disposed at a radial distance from a centerline of the cylinder bore that is about 0.75 to 3 times a minimum hydraulic diameter of an inlet cross section of the at least one duct.
12. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein a cross sectional area of the at least one duct increases in a radial direction away from a centerline of the cylinder bore at a rate of not more than 100% over a length of the at least one duct along the fuel jet centerline that is about equal to a hydraulic diameter of an inlet cross section of the at least one duct.
13. A ducted combustion system, comprising:
a combustion chamber defined in a machine;
a fuel injector configured to inject a fuel jet into the combustion chamber along a fuel jet centerline;
a duct having a generally rectangular cross section is defined within the combustion chamber and disposed to receive therein the fuel jet, the duct at least partially surrounding the fuel jet centerline.
14. The ducted combustion system of claim 13, wherein the duct is at least partially defined by a pair of fins having an elongate shape, each fin including a sidewall extending substantially parallel to the fuel jet centerline, and wherein the duct is at least partially defined between two opposing sidewalls disposed on each side of the fuel jet centerline.
15. The ducted combustion system of claim 13, wherein the duct is partially formed as a groove in a component, which is disposed around and at least partially defining the combustion chamber, and at least partially formed between two walls extending parallel to one another around the fuel jet centerline.
16. The ducted combustion system of claim 13, wherein a cross sectional area of an inlet of the duct is between 3 and 10 times a cross sectional area of the fuel jet where the fuel jet passes through the inlet, wherein a length of the duct along the fuel jet centerline is between 1 and 8 times a minimum hydraulic diameter of the inlet of the duct, wherein a cross sectional area of the duct increases in a direction along the fuel jet centerline at a rate of not more than 100% over a length of the duct along the fuel jet centerline that is about equal to a hydraulic diameter of an inlet of the duct.
17. A method for operating a combustion system, comprising:
injecting a fuel jet along a fuel jet centerline into a combustion chamber;
directing the fuel jet at least partially into a duct having a generally rectangular cross section such that local velocity gradients around the fuel jet create a substantially uniform mixture of fuel from the fuel jet with air present in the combustion chamber;
preventing entrainment of recirculated combustion products from a downstream region of the fuel jet to an upstream region of the fuel jet by substantially containing a segment of the fuel jet within the duct.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising maintaining an equivalence ratio of about 2 at a flame lift-off length.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising decelerating the recirculation of combustion products by creating velocity gradients in the combustion products that are induced by surfaces disposed between adjacent ducts.
20. A piston for use in an internal combustion engine, comprising:
a body portion connectable to a crankshaft of the engine, the body portion having a generally cylindrical shape defining a centerline;
a crown portion connected to the body portion;
at least one pair of elongate fins connected to the crown portion and extending away therefrom in a direction of the centerline, each fin of the at least one pair of elongate fins having a duct surface facing the other fin, the duct surface extending away from the centerline in a generally radial direction relative to the crown portion;
wherein a duct having a generally U-shaped cross section is defined on the crown portion of the piston between two facing duct surfaces of the at least one pair of fins and a bottom surface defined on the crown portion.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A mask pattern comprising:
a resist pattern; and
a gel layer on a surface of the resist pattern having a junction comprising hydrogen bonds between a proton donor polymer and a proton acceptor polymer, wherein the junction of the gel layer comprises:
a plurality of regions capable of undergoing hydrogen bonding, wherein the proton donor polymer and the proton acceptor polymer are hydrogen bonded therebetween; and
a defect region wherein the proton donor polymer and the proton acceptor polymer are not hydrogen-bonded therebetween so as to form a region lacking hydrogen bonding, between the hydrogen-bonded regions, the defect region of the gel layer forming a loop between the hydrogen bonded regions and the proton donor polymer of the defect region comprises a \u2014COOR group wherein R is a substituted or unsubstituted C1 to C20 hydrocarbon comprising silicon or a substituted or unsubstituted C1 to C20 acid-labile group comprising silicon, and
wherein the proton donor polymer comprises a first repeat unit comprising a maleic acid monomer unit according to the following formula:
wherein R3 and R4 are each independently hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted C1 to C20 hydrocarbon or a substituted or unsubstituted C1 to C20 acid-labile group.
2. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the gel layer is water insoluble.
3. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein R is methyl, acetyl(isopropyl)(2-methyl-butan-3-on-2-yl), t-butyl, isonorbonyl, 2-methyl-2-adamantyl, 2-ethyl-2-adamantyl, 3-tetrahydrofuranyl, 3-oxocyclohexyl, \u03b3-butyllactone-3-yl, mavaloniclactone, \u03b3-butyrolactone-2-yl, 3-methyl-\u03b3-butyrolactone-3-yl, 2-tetrahydropyranyl, 2-tetrahydrofuranyl, 2,3-propylenecarbonate-1-yl, 1-methoxyethyl, 1-ethoxyethyl, 1-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl, 1-(2-acetoxyethoxy)ethyl, t-butoxycarbonylmethyl, methoxymethyl, ethoxymethyl, trimethoxysilyl or triethoxysilyl and further comprises silicon.
4. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the proton donor polymer further comprises a second repeat unit comprising at least one of an acrylamide monomer unit, a vinyl monomer unit, an alkyleneglycol monomer unit, an anhydrous maleic acid monomer unit, an ethyleneimine monomer unit, an oxazoline group-containing monomer unit, an acrylonitrile monomer unit, an allylamide monomer unit, a 3,4-dihydropyrane monomer unit or a 2,3-dihydrofuran monomer unit.
5. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the proton acceptor polymer comprises a first repeat unit comprising a monomer unit having an amido group.
6. The mask pattern of claim 5, wherein the proton acceptor polymer comprises a first repeat unit comprising a vinyl monomer unit according to the following formula:
wherein R5 is hydrogen or a methyl group;
R6 and R7 are each independently hydrogen or C1 to C5 alkyl, and R6 and R7 can be connected in the form of \u2014R6-R7 to form a cyclic structure.
7. The mask pattern of claim 6, wherein the proton acceptor polymer comprises a first repeat unit according to the following formula:
wherein n is an integer of 1 to 5.
8. The mask pattern of claim 7, wherein the proton acceptor polymer comprises a first repeat unit comprising a vinyl pyrrolidone monomer unit.
9. The mask pattern of claim 7, wherein the proton acceptor polymer comprises a first repeat unit comprising a vinyl caprolactam monomer unit.
10. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the gel layer further comprises a surfactant.
11. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the resist pattern comprises a material comprising a phenol-formaldehyde (Novolac) resin andor a diazonaphthoquinone (DNQ)-based compound.
12. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the resist pattern is formed using a chemically amplified resist composition comprising a photo-acid generator (PAG).
13. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the resist pattern is formed using a positive-type resist composition or a negative-type resist composition.
14. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the resist pattern is formed with a plurality of openings defining a hole pattern.
15. The mask pattern of claim 1, wherein the resist pattern is formed with a plurality of lines defining a line and space pattern.